SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!

 GameCube
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
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  1. IGN
    70
    A surprisingly well-made party game that successfully captures the style and humor of the popular Nickelodeon franchise.
  2. AceGamez
    60
    Of course, the odd SpongeBob appearance and the odd wisecrack from Mr. Krabs makes up for the otherwise abysmal tasting Krabby Patty of a game, but unless you really have an itch for a Sponge game, this probably should be avoided.
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  3. Gaming Age
    33
    The problem with Story Mode is that additional players cannot join or exit a game in progress.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. HarryN.
    Jan 23, 2007
    10
    Hilarious Spongebob Game... The best "party" game in my opinion... Even better then One Piece: Pirate Carnival AND *gasp* Mario Party. Only Hilarious Spongebob Game... The best "party" game in my opinion... Even better then One Piece: Pirate Carnival AND *gasp* Mario Party. Only downfall of LCP is the mini-game number... but since they all ROCK, it doesn't matter. Enjoyable for all ages. Hope they make a sequel!… Full Review »
  2. FreedomFighters
    Jan 28, 2020
    8
    It’s no secret that the best thing about a secret, is secretly telling someone your secret, thereby secretly adding another secret to theirIt’s no secret that the best thing about a secret, is secretly telling someone your secret, thereby secretly adding another secret to their secret collection of secrets, secretly…okay, sorry, you guys know I like to have intros for my reviews, and I’ve used “it’s no secret” in some of them before, so that classic quote was rummaging in my mind before writing this review. Anyway, you guys know by now that I love me some “SpongeBob SquarePants.” It’s a clever and funny show that I still get plenty of laughs out of today, and I’ve definitely played a good few of the video games. Like many, I most loved “Battle for Bikini Bottom,” but I also played a lot of “Revenge of the Flying Dutchman” and “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” back in the day (I also reviewed those on here, but I didn’t quite love them like I did “Battle for Bikini Bottom”). One “SpongeBob” game that I didn’t get enough time with when I was a kid, though, was “SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!,” as I owned the PC version of the game, but was only able to play the console version by renting it from Blockbuster (remember them?) or from copies my friends owned. Recently, though, my brother found the game for a cheap price, so I thought I’d give it a whirl to see if it holds up, or if I’d enjoy it like I did in those short bursts when I was younger. And, to be honest, I think the game has aged quite nicely!

    Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Lights, Camera, Pants!” might look a bit ugly by today’s standards, and sure, a lot of sixth-generation games do, that’s not what I meant by “aged quite nicely.” Honestly, though, I don’t mind the graphics of the game: at the very least, it honestly feels like THQ Studio Australia really did what they could to recreate the look and feel of the show, and they did a nice job of it. Not only that, but they crafted a story that not only captures the fun, humorous charm of the show, but really makes great use of the license by bringing back characters from the series like Bubble Bass, Squilliam Fancyson, Kevin C. Cucumber, and Cannonball Jenkins. It’s a small thing, but it really shows how much the developers cared about the license that they brought in these characters and did them justice. Gameplay-wise, this is where the game has aged well. It might be easy to say that this game is just “Mario Party” with a “SpongeBob” coat of paint, but many of the minigames are not luck-based and feel like they have a fair bit of depth, which is great, and I appreciate how the minigames are easy to learn for young audiences, while still providing a decent amount of challenge for older gamers. The mini-games are plenty of fun, the controls are solid, and even though the story mode won’t take you very long, the ability to replay it is nice, and the multiplayer adds even more replay value.

    There are a few issues that I have with the game, though: for starters, I do think some of the voice clips get a bit repetitive. I get it, games geared towards children tend to do that, but honestly, these lines repeat through each and every level, to the point where I wonder why they didn’t re-record lines for certain minigames. On top of that, I think that the load times are a bit obnoxious (there’s a good few of them, and they go on for a bit too long), and while the game is rather short (I completed the story in about 2-3 hours), a good amount of that time will be spent watching the game load, believe it or not.
    All in all, though, “SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!” is a very solid party game starring everyone’s favorite sponge, and while it might be easy to think the game has aged poorly and isn’t very good, I can say that it still holds up nicely so many years later. If you’re a “SpongeBob” fan and you haven’t gotten to play this, go ahead and give it a shot. You’ll definitely get some fun multiplayer shenanigans out of it, and it’s definitely got plenty of surprises that’ll appeal to audiences of all ages.
    Final rating: 8 out of 10 “Great”    … Full Review »
  3. SuperInkLink64
    Dec 2, 2018
    8
    Oh, this game was just good, solid, fun to play through. It easily tops other party games, a few Mario Parties included. All the minigames areOh, this game was just good, solid, fun to play through. It easily tops other party games, a few Mario Parties included. All the minigames are so addictive and fun to complete. The AI for the CPUs is surprisingly good, except for a few minigames. (Cough, cough, weight-lifting game, cough) There are a bunch of trophies to collect, and artwork to earn for getting high scores. The real complaint you can lob at it is that the main campaign takes you through the same set of minigames THREE TIMES. At least the games are fun. And the story is decent enough to work for a Spongebob game. If you have some friends who are just wanting a random fun game to spend a few hours playing, this is a good choice.… Full Review »
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